COOLER THAN COOL

ITS ALL ABOUT MINTS!

QUESTION

Does fresh mint cool things down in temperature or is it merely a

sensation?

PURPOSEThe purpose of this project is to determine if fresh mint can cool

other objects or not. It is important to know this because you can cool

down your mouth with fresh mint if you eat something hot.

HYPOTHESESWe hypothesize that fresh mint will cool objects down. We believe this because when you take a breath mint it makes your mouth cool.

PROCEDURE

MATERIALS30 fresh mint leavesSPARK thermometer

600 ml waterStop watch

VARIABLES Manipulated-mint leaves

Responding-water temperatureConstant-amount of water, size of cups,

method of measuring of water temperature

DIRECTIONS1. FILL TWO 88.7 ML CUPS OF 60 ML ROOM

TEMPERATURE WATER2. RECORD TEMPATURE WITH SPARK THERMOTER

3. ADD 6 MINT LEAVES TO THE CUP OF WATER4. WAIT TEN MINUTES

5. RECORD TEMPATURE WITH THE SPARK THERMOTER

6. REPEAT STEPS 1-5 FOR FOUR MORE STEPS

CONCLUSIONOur hypothesis was incorrect. Fresh mint does

not cool water down in temperature. It makes it warmer. Our water’s average temperature was 24.08 degrees Celsius. That's cooler than our water with fresh mint’s average temperature

which was 24.16 degrees Celsius. Our research led us to discover that mints give off menthol

and that maybe raised the water temperature.